II. Approval of Minutes It was moved and seconded that the minutes of the September 26, 2013 meeting be approved as written. Motion carried unanimously.

III. Report of the Interim Dean (R. Ayres) Fall Graduate Open House – The Open House was held on Wednesday, Oct. 16. The attendance number was 250, which is down a little from last year. The number of applications received was 175, which is also down a little from last year, but this number may be lower in part to the newly imposed limit of one free application per attendee. The yield rate for applications received at the Open House is historically high. Discussion: A suggestion was made to start the Open House later or extend the time later to better accommodate people coming from work.

Enrollment – (Presentation) Slide 1: The Marketing Issue – Domestic applications have been relatively flat over the past 5 years: up a little in 2008 due to downturn in economy; down a little in 2011 due to the impending switch to semesters; up a little in 2012 due to semester start. Slide 2: The Capacity Issue – The number of admitted students follows a similar track as the previous slide. Note that some programs cannot take additional students even if more applications are received. Slide 3: The Recruitment Issue – The number of enrolled domestic students is trending downward slightly. Slide 4: Yield Rate – The number of domestic students that have been accepted but are not enrolling is clearly trending downward in this slide (from 82% to 65%). Discussion: Is there a macroeconomic effect that would be apparent in a longer period of time? How does this data compare to other state universities? Can the unemployment rate be included in these graphs? Can scholarship dollars be included in the graphs? Slide 5: Marketing – Three marketing research surveys are underway: one is surveying prospective students (people who have shown an interest in WSU or who may just be interested in graduate education); one is surveying students who were accepted but did not enroll to find out why (lost to competition or decided not to start graduate school); and one surveys new students to see why they chose WSU. The information gathered from these surveys will be used to redesign the Graduate School’s overall marketing strategy.

Announcements – The Graduate Program Directors Workshop will take place Fri. Nov. 15, 12-2:30 p.m. in E156 SU. A call for nominations for an outstanding alumnus from a graduate program will be emailed next week. A policy discussion for undergraduate and graduate certificates will take place before the next Graduate Council meeting. This discussion is being prompted by state-level discussions that certificates may be included in the SSI funding formula and also by the Higher Learning Commission.

d. Curriculum Committee A (R. Grandhi) On behalf of the Curriculum Committee A, R. Grandhi moved to approve a new concentration in M.S. Nursing: Neonatal Nurse Practitioner. This program will be offered in collaboration with the University of Cincinnati. No discussion. R. Ayres called for a vote. All in favor. Motion passed.

On behalf of the Curriculum Committee A, R. Grandhi moved to approve the following new course requests: EE 6840, NUR 7720, NUR 7721, NUR 7722, NUR 7723, and PSY 9035. No discussion. R. Ayres called for a vote. All in favor. Motion passed.

On behalf of the Curriculum Committee A, R. Grandhi moved to approve the following program of study modifications: M.S. Computer Engineering, M.S. Computer Science, and Ph.D. Computer Science and Engineering. No discussion. R. Ayres called for a vote. All in favor. Motion passed.

e. Curriculum Committee B (J. Warfield for M. McNutt) On behalf of the Curriculum Committee B, J. Warfield moved to approve the following 2 new course requests: EDS 6300 and REL 6930. No discussion. R. Ayres called for a vote. All in favor. Motion passed.

V. Graduate Student Assembly “GSA” Report (M. Ragas) The applications received in the first round of the professional development/original works grant program are currently under review. The deadline for the second round is Feb. 19. GSA gained 20 new members; membership total is 162 students. The GSA is offering a series of workshops for graduate students; the next one is with the Counseling and Wellness Center. The GSA would be willing to help with recruitment activities.